This blog focuses on news and information regarding practice in the federal courts in the Eastern District of California, with a special emphasis on criminal and civil rights cases.

Blog Author

John Balazs is an attorney in Sacramento, California, specializing in criminal defense, including appeals, habeas corpus, pardons, expungements, and civil forfeiture actions. After graduating from UCLA Law School in 1989, he clerked for Judge Harry Pregerson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. John was an Assistant Federal Defender in Fresno and Sacramento from 1992-2001. He currently serves as an adjunct professor in clinical trial advocacy at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. Please email EDCA items of interest to Balazslaw@gmail.com. Follow me on twitter @balazslaw.

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This blog is for informational purposes only. Nothing in this blog should be construed as legal advice. The law can change rapidly and information in this blog can become outdated. Do your own research or consult with an attorney.

June 28, 2013

Against a backdrop of furor – both at home and abroad – over the Obama administration's use of killer drones, five protesters who oppose the policy and who are charged with trespassing at Beale Air Force Base were told Thursday by a federal judge that they will not get a jury trial.

Defense lawyer Mark Reichel said when contacted after the hearing: "This is a political prosecution, and the defendants should not be judged by a branch of the federal government but by a jury of their peers."

The hearing was short, but not so sweet for the defense. In addition to denying the defendants a jury trial, U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. Delaney barred them from claiming that their actions were a benefit to society.

The U.S. attorney's office in Sacramento did not want the protesters to have a jury trial. After hauling the five into court on a charge of entering the base for an unlawful purpose – a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison, a year of supervised release and a $5,000 fine, or five years on probation – the office argued that the crime is not serious, and thus not legally worthy of a jury trial.

Once the defendants sought a jury trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Fogg further blunted the defense contention that the punishment could be serious by assuring Delaney that, if she decides one or more of the protesters are guilty, he will not seek incarceration, supervised release, or special conditions of probation.

* * *

An Aug. 12 trial before Delaney is scheduled for Sharon Delgado, 64, of Nevada City; David Hartsough, 72, and his wife, Janet Hartsough, 71, of San Francisco; Jane Kesselman, 58, of Camptonville, and Shirley Osgood, 65, of Grass Valley. They were arrested Oct. 30 at the Yuba County base.

* * *

The U.S. attorney's office was asked why, aside from its interpretation of the law, it is opposed to a jury trial for these five people.

U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner is out of the country and not reachable. Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Sylvia Quast wrote in an email: "The government's approach to this case has been reasonable and evenhanded from the beginning … and there is not a right to a jury trial here. Under the circumstances, the magistrate judge's decision to hold a bench trial … was the correct one."

When it was pointed out that her answer did not address the question, Quast messaged back: "We are satisfied that this answers the question."

Beale has been a target of anti-drone protests for years. It is home to the U-2, the venerable 1950s spy plane, and the unmanned Global Hawk, an unarmed reconnaissance drone that is an "accomplice" in strikes carried out by armed drones. It gives a theater commander a broad overview and pinpoint target surveillance.

From the outset, deadly drone attacks have been at the heart of President Barack Obama's national security strategy, and their use in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya increased dramatically after he took office.

The targeted killing program has come under heightened scrutiny amid charges by some human and civil rights groups and others that it violates international and U.S. law, has claimed hundreds of civilian lives, and has provoked intense popular anger that has helped al-Qaida and other terrorist groups recruit radicals.

Comments

Against a backdrop of furor – both at home and abroad – over the Obama administration's use of killer drones, five protesters who oppose the policy and who are charged with trespassing at Beale Air Force Base were told Thursday by a federal judge that they will not get a jury trial.

Defense lawyer Mark Reichel said when contacted after the hearing: "This is a political prosecution, and the defendants should not be judged by a branch of the federal government but by a jury of their peers."

The hearing was short, but not so sweet for the defense. In addition to denying the defendants a jury trial, U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. Delaney barred them from claiming that their actions were a benefit to society.

The U.S. attorney's office in Sacramento did not want the protesters to have a jury trial. After hauling the five into court on a charge of entering the base for an unlawful purpose – a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison, a year of supervised release and a $5,000 fine, or five years on probation – the office argued that the crime is not serious, and thus not legally worthy of a jury trial.

Once the defendants sought a jury trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Fogg further blunted the defense contention that the punishment could be serious by assuring Delaney that, if she decides one or more of the protesters are guilty, he will not seek incarceration, supervised release, or special conditions of probation.

* * *

An Aug. 12 trial before Delaney is scheduled for Sharon Delgado, 64, of Nevada City; David Hartsough, 72, and his wife, Janet Hartsough, 71, of San Francisco; Jane Kesselman, 58, of Camptonville, and Shirley Osgood, 65, of Grass Valley. They were arrested Oct. 30 at the Yuba County base.

* * *

The U.S. attorney's office was asked why, aside from its interpretation of the law, it is opposed to a jury trial for these five people.

U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner is out of the country and not reachable. Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Sylvia Quast wrote in an email: "The government's approach to this case has been reasonable and evenhanded from the beginning … and there is not a right to a jury trial here. Under the circumstances, the magistrate judge's decision to hold a bench trial … was the correct one."

When it was pointed out that her answer did not address the question, Quast messaged back: "We are satisfied that this answers the question."

Beale has been a target of anti-drone protests for years. It is home to the U-2, the venerable 1950s spy plane, and the unmanned Global Hawk, an unarmed reconnaissance drone that is an "accomplice" in strikes carried out by armed drones. It gives a theater commander a broad overview and pinpoint target surveillance.

From the outset, deadly drone attacks have been at the heart of President Barack Obama's national security strategy, and their use in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya increased dramatically after he took office.

The targeted killing program has come under heightened scrutiny amid charges by some human and civil rights groups and others that it violates international and U.S. law, has claimed hundreds of civilian lives, and has provoked intense popular anger that has helped al-Qaida and other terrorist groups recruit radicals.